Q&A {answers to random questions}

Well, I am attempting to answer a few of the questions you’ve been asking recently:

Any ideas where I can get those beakers? I got mine from a guy named Skeeter (see another use for them here). It was a random find, but you can find similar spice jars at home stores.

Do I have to have Photoshop to make those letters? Yes. It is a simple Photoshop template. I don’t know how you would create them without Photoshop other than cutting photos.

Is 09.01.01 your wedding date:Yep!

Did your frames come with glass and velvet matting? Glass – yes, Velvet-not sure…they were a gift from Natasha

Can I move in with you? How well do you handle organized chaos?!

Where is that blue dress from? It is actually grey…from Dillards nearly 2 years ago!

Where is her quilt from? My aunt Sandy made it. It is out of Amy Butler Midwest Modern fabric.

Where is her blanket from? My mom made it…no idea on the fabric. Sorry.

Where is her apron from?I got it at The Christmas Gathering store in November. I tried finding it online, but can’t.

What is your favorite playdoh recipe?

1 cup flour

1/4 cup salt

2 tablespooons cream of tartar

1 cup water

food coloring

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Combine it all, cook in a skillet over medium heat, stirring the whole time. When it forms a ball, remove and knead it.

Where are her pillows from?The raspberry pillowcases are from Target (2 years ago). I wrapped a panel of tangerine Amy Butler fabric around them. The others I made from Amy Butler fabric.

How big is that letter “B”? It is about 9 inches tall.

Love your jeans. What are they? Gap clearance rack a few years ago…rolled up dorky like so I didn’t get mud on them 🙂

Are a lot of your photos out of focus when you use a shallow depth of field? Yes and No. Using a shallow depth of field like above (f/1.8) takes practice for sure. The farther you are from your subject the higher your chances of getting things in focus…the closer you are to the subject the more likely you’ll get more out of focus. I rarely shoot a moving subject (like a kid) at f/1.8, but in this case I had great lighting (fast shutter speed) and a good distance for what I wanted to capture. The more you practice at shallow depth of fields the less often you’ll get out of focus shots.

I find a hard time determining if something is in focus or not when I look through my lens. Why is that? First check your diopter (read this link). From there it matters if you are shooting in automatic focus or manual focus. I basically never use manual focusing. I use the lens auto focus…thus can hear a little “beep” when things are in focus.

Can you tell us what you used to edit these lovelies of your babies? I import all photos into Adobe Lightroom. I use Lightroom for batch editing and organizing everything. I do additional tweaking and prepare for web in Photoshop CS4.

Where did you find the Wonder Woman shirt? Old Navy last summer.

How do you keep your photos from being ‘dragged’ and copied online? It is just a safety feature that is part of my ProPhoto blog template.

White balancing: do you leave it at Auto or adjust accordingly? I leave it on Auto 99% of the time. I do make minor adjustments in Adobe Lightroom if needed.

What is the exposure for the photos above? I’m not sure exactly what you mean by this question. I do set my exposure meter on my camera to be ‘overexposed’ just a bit because I find that is tends to be underexposed for my taste otherwise. The settings for the actual photos are included on that post.

Would you mind sharing why you like the 85mm f/1.4 lens? It takes beautiful portraits. It is sharp. It can capture gorgeous bokeh (blurry part of image). I like prime lenses (meaning you can’t zoom in and out) because it forces me to be more creative than just stand there turning my hand.

If you had to choose between the 24-70 and the 24-105 lenses, which would you choose? If you are talking about the 24-70mm f/2.8, I would choose it for the ability to shoot at f/2.8 (blurry backgrounds that I like).

If you could only buy ONE camera lens for everything, but mostly everyday shots of your kids, which would you choose? The 24-70mm f/2.8 (see answer above).

I have always wondered if you photoshop every image you post on here, the colors and clarity are always on spot! Yes. Sometimes it is very minor, like re-sizing and sharpening for web. Other times I have more time and play with more dramatic actions and so on. I do typically adjust the Curves (contrast) on most photos I post online.

Are we supposed to clean our cameras? Yes! Especially if you like to change out your lenses. I am going to get into the habit of having my camera professionally cleaned once a year. It isn’t cheap, but it is surprising how much it affects the clarity of your pictures.

stephanie @ providence handmde-I noticed your wedding date, too….we were married on 9/08/01 and were on our honeymoon during 9/11…maybe you were too? Such a bittersweet thing. Thanks for the awesome shadowbox tute – can’t wait to try it out. Oh, and I wonder if you could use a scrapbooking die-cutter (Cricut, Silhouette) to cut out the picture letters? I don’t have one, just a thought.

Shannon Phillips-Love the Q and A header! Keegan loves the photos of your kids. He keeps talking about Biggest Brother building the snow fort and jumping and climbing on the bed with the ladder with everyone. Ha, oh and he likes to give firecracker hugs on my computer screen. 😉

Cara-Love a good q&a, love your blog! For the play-dough recipe I use a package (any flavor) of Koolaid instead of food coloring. It works great and smells sooooo good! Grape is my fav but cherry and lime and blue raspberry all turn out bright and fun! Just thought I’d share?

kassondra -i just was wondering what your process is for taking the pictures with you in them. my husband has no clue about photography but I want good pictures of me with my kids. usually i set the timer. do you have any tips?

anne c -of course i love reading through the whole post, but i am so excited u put the directions for the playdoh! i knew u posted it a while back but i searched and searched for it the other day and couldnt find it. thanks again!

Melissa W.-Fun post! I just got an external flash and have been playing with that, trying to learn the ins and outs. 😉 Are you still planning on having an online photo class? I’m signed up for your newsletter so I’ll hear if you announce one – just excited! 🙂 Again, great post – such beautiful babies! 🙂

Melissa-Thank yo ufor taking the time to answer these questions! I learn so much from your blog!

jenny-hey there,
i’m a newbie to your blog-love it! i also love your hair…is it naturally curly and if so, what products do you use and how do you style it?

:)jenny

Jenny Joy-I know that answering questions like that has to be time consuming, but I’m so glad you did! I have to admit, I asked myself at least 3 or 4 of those questions while I was reading. Thanks for the extra info!

Rebecca -Was wondering where do you keep your camera? I find if I keep mine in the bag its not handy when my kids are being cute. Just curious. Enjoy the day.

hearttypat-yep! u answered my questions pretty well! that was what I wanted to know! Thanks ashley!!

mariagiovanna-Thank you so much for answering my question (about the depth of field when photographing kids)…I really appreciated it and find your blog to be so inspiring – Thank you for sharing!

Jill -Hi Ashley…I was just thinking about having my camera cleaned. Who do you use for that? My camera tends to get pretty dirty when I’m handling and photographing my rusty, chippy old things!
Thanks! Jill

I absolutely love your blog and I have been reading for quite a while now. When I first started reading I was just dreaming of being a mom and would store all of your wonderful ideas when it comes to creativity and having fun with your kids. Now my little one is due in April and I am so excited.

I don’t usually comment but i know that I should. Positive comments always leave a good feeling!

Anyway, I saw this today and it made me think of you. I think you’ll like it! Have a good day with your adorable kiddos!

Sheena -You said you didnt know what fabric that blanket was…..I dont remember the speficic print name, but its by Joel Dewberry. It might be called, “Sparrow.”

Rachel-Thanks for sharing! always been a fan of your photography and im glad to hear all your “secrets” 🙂

amanda torres-When I read the camera settings stuff it’s like reading Chinese. I think it’s time to do a Snapshots class.

Megan -Thank you so very much!! Can’t wait to make playdoh!

Sarah -I am sad I might have missed my chance. My Question is…..Why are you so against using flash? I love natural light, but I rarely see you post anything taken at night. I take a lot of pictures of my kids at night and I feel I have no other choice.

Kate S. -Did you intentionally choose a blog template with a photo safety feature? I thought it was strange that someone had obviously tried to drag/copy your photos in the first place and even more odd that they even thought to ask you about the security features. It had me wondering . . .

I have never tried to copy one of your photos previously, but out of curiosity did so just now, while reading this thread in my feed reader (Sage) and the photos copy just fine. Whatever safety feature is in place in the template must be deactivated by my use of Sage. I thought I’d mention that, just in case you were, in fact, deliberately trying to secure your photos.

Lacey -I love the vacation shadow box. I assumed you had cut the letters out of white and then placed them over the photos, so I guess that’s another option since someone was asking (from the 2nd question). I really enjoy your blog!

tasha roe-i am totally making those letters and giving them as baby shower gifts from now on.
and thanks for the shout out. 😉

Erin - The Smallest Sparrow-Thanks so much for all of this wonderful information! Especially the great photography tips. Super helpful stuff.

Shanna -You are such a love. THank you for answering my quesiton…. I need to find myself a Skeeter!

Taneesha -Our anniversary is 09/01/01 too! And we have 3 boys and a baby girl! And i love crafts and pictures, well I love to look at them from other people’s blogs:) Thanks for sharing your world with us!

Amy-i am excited that one of my questions made your post! thank you for taking the time to answer your readers FAQ’s 😀 i learn something cool every time i visit.

Jennifer-You are my good friend, and I don’t even know you 🙂 You teach me so much! Thank you !
I am also a photographer and I use lightroom and photoshop too. What is your process for editing from lightroom to photoshop and then bringing them back into lightroom? I know it could be easier than what I do! I edit them in photoshop by clicking Command E in lightroom. Edit in CS4, save and then import the “new edited” version in lightroom. Kind of a pain!

noel-love all the design ideas on here!
for anyone interested, i’m sure those little aprons are available at many store… i know you can find those little girl aprons at my family’s restaurant supply store in north little rock, ar. check them out online at http://www.krebsbrothers.com/ or find on facebook or twitter 🙂

Ashley A -Wow! Thanks for the information. I just bought my first 50 mm f/1.4 yesterday, so now I’m verrrry excited to use it! 🙂 When time permits, I love it when you list your photo settings. Love your site!

ps we share the same name!

Scott-Thank you for sharing the link to my diopter blog article. Great Q&A as well Ashley.

Krissa -Thank you!

Anna-Thank you for your Q and A!!! 🙂 And answering a question I had. I adjust my diopter…wahoo!

Carissa-Seriously? Someone asked if they could move in with you. WTH. Just sayin. You handled that with grace of course, unlike I would have. 🙂

Carissa-P.S. I have been meaning to ask you about the shot of Big Brother at the f/1.8 which you answered in the Q&A. I was shocked you got that picture at an f/1.8! I need to step up my game and practice on that. I don’t think I could get that clear of a shot at an f/1.8!

Grace-Thanks for the Q&A and for answering my question!
It was like a reverse comment- I felt just as excited 🙂
As a non-photo person, I didn’t understand most of that stuff, but it’s nice to know I can find good links from you if I take the plunge 🙂

cindy-what a fun post! i love q&a’s!
I have the same apron as your daughter, but in green gingham! people ask me where it came from all the time, but my mom purchased it in a little craft and notions shop. the little one is even cuter!

Charity-Hi, I was wondering where you have your photos printed off at? I have been doing lots of baby & kids birthday photos.

SnapShop Online Photography School exists to help others gain the tools they need to be able to capture the beauty if their days through photography. Whether you recently purchased your very first DSLR and aren't even sure how to turn it on or if you have a little bit of a grasp on terms like aperture and shutter speed - SnapShop courses and lessons will propel you forward on your photography journey.

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